NYMPH^A 



NYMPH^A 



2307 



to this case, making it unnecessary, as it is also unfortu- 

 nate, to revive the old name Castaha for these well- 

 known and popular plants, which are habitually mono- 

 graphed imder Nym])h;ea. The name Castalia is not 

 adopted by most Euroi)ean botanists. Briquet, of the 

 international committee on nomenclature and under 

 whose name the international rules are issued, writes 

 the author that the rules definitely mean to authorize 

 Nympha'a rather than Castalia. 



Until the first edition of this Cyclopedia, several spe- 

 cific names were confused, but this difticulty is mostly 

 corrected now. In reading of aquatics prior to 1900, it 

 is well to remember that many British botanists include 

 all blue water-lilies of the eastern hemisphere (or all 

 except the Australian forms) under the name Nymphsea 

 stellata. N. cserulea of B. M. 552 and A^. scutifolia, DC, 

 are really N. capensis. The true A', cserulea was long 

 known in American gardens as N. scutifolia (Tricker, 

 "Water Garden," 1S97). N. ampla of gardens may 

 be either A^. amazonum or A^. Lotus var. dcniala 

 (see "VVaterlilies: A Monograph of the Genus Nym- 

 pha^a;" by H. S. Conard. Carnegie Inst. Publication 

 No. 4). 



The true Egyptian lotus. — Among common names the 

 term "lotus" has been remarkably misapplied. It 

 seems to be consistently used among us for the genus 

 Xelumbo, Nelumbo nucifera being generally styled 

 "Egyptian" or "sacred lotus." Historically this is 

 entirely wrong. Nelumbo is not native in Egypt, and 

 is not now found there in a wild state. It was cultivated 

 extensively along the Nile in the Roman period, proba- 

 bly for food, and the flower is supposed to have fur- 

 nished the design for one form of capital of the Egyptian 

 columns. It is a native of southeastern Asia; is found 

 near temples and carved on the walls of. cave-temples 

 in Hindustan, showing a veneration, which it shares, 

 however, with Nymphsea stellata, N. rubra and A'^. Lotus. 

 Nelumbo seems to have been regarded as sacred about 

 temples in Japan and China. In Egypt, however, 

 Nympha'a cserulea and A'. Lotus, the "V)lue lotus" and 

 "white lotus," are indigenous. The root (rhizome) of 

 the former is said to have been pointed out as edible 

 by Isis — or by Menes; its flowers, buds and leaves are 

 often depicted on the monuments, the first sometimes 

 in color. The flowers are figured among offerings under 

 the fourth dynasty (3998-3721 B.C.), and the plant is 

 certainly known from the fifth djTiasty. Petals of this 

 and of A'. Lotus were found in the tomb of Rameses II, 

 the Pharoah of the Israeliti.sh captivity. A^. Lotus was 

 less regarded than A', carulea in Egypt, though an object 

 of veneration in India. Herodotus and other ancient 

 ■wTiters speak of these water-lilies indiscriminately as 

 the "lotos" of the Egyptians. With these facts, and the 

 additional one that, except as referred to above, Ne- 

 lumbo never appears in Egyptian carvings, the identity 

 of the sacred lotus cannot be doubted. But the erro- 

 neous use of the word lotus is deeply rooted and may 

 never be supplanted, and it is necessary to remember 

 that the so-called "Egyptian lotus" is not the plant of 

 the tombs and monuments. (The lotus of Tennyson's 

 poem, "Lotus Eaters," is .still another plant, a shrub 

 or tree, which hangs out over the water; and the genus 

 Lotus [which see) is distinct from all of these.) 



The Marliac hybrids. — Two types of hardy free- 

 flowering hybrids akin to N. alba and its variety rubra, 

 but of uncertain parentage, have been introduced since 

 1888, one of sturdy habit, raising its leaves (4 to 8 inches 

 across) and flowers (3 to C inches across) well out of the 

 water when crowded, the other slender in growth, the 

 leaves (3 to 6 inches across) and flowers (2} 2 to 4 inches 

 across) usually floating. From 1888 to 1900 all of these 

 superb varieties were introduced liy M. Latour-Marliac 

 of Temple-sur-I>ot, France, whose methods, however, 

 remain a mystery. Excellent culture combined with 

 careful selection and wise hybridization have brought 

 about these magnificent results. The first or Marliacea 



group seems to involve A^. alba as one parent. The 

 second started with a hybrid of A'^. alba var. rubra and 

 A', tctragona known as A'. Laydekeri var. rosea, to which 

 is added in varying degrees blood of A^. alba var. rosea 

 and .V. mexicann. But this does not adequately accoimt 

 for the whole group. Nearly all kinds of both groups 

 are entirely sterile. 



I/iiportant species. — The following account, which 

 contains 200 varieties and about 48 synonyms, may 

 seem rather formidable to the beginner, but the species 

 of first importance are only eight in nmnber: N. Lotus, 

 N. rubra, N. tuberosa, N. odorata, N. alba, N. mexicana, 

 N . flavo-vircns and A', zanzibariensis. The greater num- 

 ber of the other names represent garden varieties and 

 hybrids. It is impossible for any form of arrangement 

 to be clear and logical on the one hand, and exhibit nat- 

 ural relationship on the other, at least, in a genus so 

 greatly modified in cultivation. However, the true spe- 

 cies may be distinguished in the treatment, the deriva- 

 tives being apparent by description or hybridization 

 sign (x) or otherwise. 



The best water-lilies for anmleurs. — Tender day-bloom- 

 ing kinds: A'. Pennsylvania, light blue; A^. zanzibarien- 

 sis, deep blue; N . flavo-virens, white; Mrs. C. W. Ward, 

 pink; A'. Daubeniana, dwarf, blue. Tender night- 

 blooming kinds: A^. dentata, white; N. Omarana, 

 magenta; Frank Trelease, dark crimson. Hardy kinds: 

 N. chromatclla, yellow; A', tetragona helvola,. dwarf 

 yellow; A'. Gladstoniana, white; A^. tetragona, dwarf 

 white; W. B. Shaw, pink; A^. Laydekeri rosea, dwarf 

 pink; Wm. Falconer, dark red. 



Cultivation of water-lilies. (William Tricker.) 



Water-lilies or nympheas are among the most royal, 

 gorgeous, diversified, and universally admired plants in 

 cultivation. No class of plants in our public parks can 

 compete with them in attracting the peojile. Moreover, 

 America is the most highly favored country in the 

 world for the cultivation of aquatic plants. Ours is the 

 only country which can have so rich and continuous a 

 disi)lay of aquatics in flower from Ajiril to October in 

 the open without artificial heat. In parks and private 

 gardens are to be seen, flowering early in sjjring, all 

 native -nympheas, and others from Europe and Asia. 

 The species begin to flower in A])ril and continue until 

 early fall, when a number of the hardy hybrids con- 

 tinue to flower uninterruptedly until the end of the 

 season. In the central states and southward, the hardy 

 varieties dechne when tropical weather sets in, and the 

 nights and days are hot. In the eastern states, and 

 especially near the (X)ast, where the nights are cool, the 

 season is much longer, and the color of some of the pink 

 varieties is more intense. Following the hardy nym- 

 pheas come the nehnnbiums in all their oriental splen- 

 dor, brightening the smnmer season, and bridging over 

 the declining period of the hardy nymi>heas and the 

 approaching season of the tropical nympheas which 

 arrive at maturity toward the latter end of July or 

 beginning of August, and continue imtil fall. Finally 

 the grandest of all acjuatic plants, Victoria regia, may 

 be seen in America growing in a natural pond, and pro- 

 ducing its chaste flowers as late as the middle of October. 



.America is rich in native species of nymphea, ami it 

 is the only country which has native white-, pink- and 

 yellow-flowered kinds. Of the American nympheas 

 there are about five that are best known. The common 

 white water-lily is Nympha'a odorata. Its variety rosea 

 is the Cape Cod pink water-lily. A', tuberosa (syn. .V. 

 reniformix) is a white-flowered species, inhabiting the 

 western lakes. The yellow kind, A^. Jlaoa, is indigenous 

 to Florida and other southern states, but is hardy in 

 New Jersey antl southern New York. Another .southern 

 kind is the white-flowered A', odoiata var. gigantea. In 

 addition to the above well-known kinds, there are 

 .several distinct forms and hybrids. 



The cominencement of the cultivation of aquatics in 



